Poll: Israelis now see Gaza pullout as mistake

A majority of Israelis now see the unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005 as a mistake that has allowed Palestinian terrorists to threaten southern Israel in an unprecedented way.

According to a poll conducted by Geocartographia this month, 48 percent of Israelis believe Israel should not have pulled its civilians and soldiers out of Gaza as part of former prime minister Ariel Sharon's "disengagement." Only 37 percent of respondents said they still support the move.

The results of the survey also showed that a firm 58 percent majority of Israelis do not agree with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's assertion that there is no military solution to the ongoing rocket attacks from Gaza.

Defense officials have recommended a full-scale ground invasion of Gaza to curb the rocket fire, but Olmert, still stinging from his failures in last summer's Lebanon war, has refused to authorize such action.

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